This invention is related to an architecture for conducting a contest. In one aspect, it relates to a method for conducting a contest using a network.
With the growing numbers of computer users connecting to the xe2x80x9cInternet,xe2x80x9d many companies are seeking the substantial commercial opportunities presented by such a large user base. For example, one technology which exists allows a television (xe2x80x9cTVxe2x80x9d) signal to trigger a computer response in which the consumer will be guided to a personalized web page. The source of the triggering signal may be a TV, video tape recorder, or radio. For example, if a viewer is watching a TV program in which an advertiser offers viewer voting, the advertiser may transmit a unique signal within the television signal which controls a program known as a xe2x80x9cbrowserxe2x80x9d on the viewer""s computer to automatically display the advertiser""s web page. The viewer then simply makes a selection which is then transmitted back to the advertiser.
In order to provide the viewer with the capability of responding to a wide variety of companies using this technology, a database of company information and Uniform Resource Locator (xe2x80x9cURLxe2x80x9d) codes is necessarily maintained in the viewer""s computer, requiring continuous updates. URLs are short strings of data that identify resources on the Internet: documents, images, downloadable files, services, electronic mailboxes, and other resources. URLs make resources available under a variety of naming schemes and access methods such as HTTP, FTP, and Internet mail, addressable in the same simple way. URLs reduce the tedium of xe2x80x9clogin to this server, then issue this magic command . . . xe2x80x9d down to a single click. The Internet uses URLs to specify the location of files on other servers. A URL includes the type of resource being accessed (e.g., Web, gopher, FTP), the address of the server, and the location of the file. The URL can point to any file on any networked computer. Current technology requires the viewer to perform periodic updates to obtain the most current URL database. This aspect of the current technology is cumbersome since the update process requires downloading information to the viewer""s computer. Moreover, the likelihood for error in performing the update, and the necessity of redoing the update in the event of a later computer crash, further complicates the process. Additionally, current technologies are limited in the number of companies which may be stored in the database. This is a significant limitation since world-wide access presented by the Internet and the increasing number of companies connecting to perform on-line E-commerce necessitates a large database.
The present invention disclosed and claimed herein comprises, in one aspect thereof, a method for conducting a contest using a network. A selected article of commerce is identified to a plurality of users remotely disposed at user locations on the network. The selected article of commerce bears an indicia encoding an identification code which corresponds to the selected article in accordance with an extrinsic standard. An unvalidated entry message packet is then received at a reference location. The unvalidated entry message packet was transmitted across the network from a user location in response to scanning at the user location an indicia on an article of commerce. The indicia on the scanned article of commerce encodes an identification code which corresponds to the article in accordance with an extrinsic standard. The unvalidated entry message packet comprises an article code derived from the scanned indicia. A reference database is provided at the reference location. The reference database has a plurality of article codes and a plurality of routing information for target locations on the network and associates each of routing information with at least one of the article codes. The reference database is accessed and the routing information associated with the article code received in the unvalidated entry message packet is retrieved. A reply message packet is created including the routing information associated with the article code in the unvalidated entry packet. The reply message packet is then transmitted across the network to the user location from which it was received. A validated entry message packet is then received at a target location on the network. The validated entry message packet was transmitted across the network from the user location in response to receipt of the reply message packet. The validated entry message packet was routed to the target address using routing information received in the reply message packet and it comprises user information. It is then determined whether the validated entry message packet constitutes an accepted entry. Finally, it is determined if a user submitting an accepted entry is a winner of the contest.